Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) > Carcharhiniformes
(Ground sharks) > Carcharhinidae
Etymology: Carcharhinus: Greek, karcharos = sharpen + Greek, rhinos = nose (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 150 m (Ref. 6871). Tropical; 10°S - 28°S
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?, range 115 - ? cm
Max length : 200 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9997); max. published weight: 52.0 kg (Ref. 6390); max. reported age: 12 years (Ref. 6390)
soft rays: 0. Back dark grey, ashy blue or dusky bronze; belly white or yellowish white; a dark band extending rearward along each side to about over origin of pelvic fin; tips of pelvic fins with a persistent black spot (Ref. 9997).
Indo-West Pacific: currently known only from the continental shelf of tropical Australia. Very similar to Carcharhinus limbatus and reliably distinguished only by biochemical studies and vertebral counts (Ref. 9819).
Found on the continental shelf from close inshore to about 150 m depth (Ref. 9997). Found throughout the water column but usually near the sea bed during the day and near the surface at night (Ref. 6390). Prefers teleost fishes but also feeds on cephalopods to a lesser degree. Viviparous (Ref. 50449). Forms large aggregations (Ref. 6871). Utilized for its meat and fins (Ref. 6871). The flesh has a relatively high mercury content (Ref. 6871).
Viviparous, placental (Ref. 50449). The average litter size is 3, with a range of 1-6, average total length at birth is 60 cm. Pups are born in January after a 10-month gestation period. These sharks breed once each year (Ref. 13440). Distinct pairing with embrace (Ref. 205).
Kailola, P.J., M.J. Williams, P.C. Stewart, R.E. Reichelt, A. McNee and C. Grieve, 1993. Australian fisheries resources. Bureau of Resource Sciences, Canberra, Australia. 422 p. (Ref. 6390)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 96402)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: minor commercial
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00537 (0.00242 - 0.01194), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 4.2 ±0.6 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.14; tm=3-4; tmax=12).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): High to very high vulnerability (70 of 100) .